US Judiciary System says it was hacked, is taking steps to strengthen cybersecurity

• Sensitive files held by US courts are being targeted
• The US Judiciary is strengthening its IT infrastructure following incidents
• The DOJ, DHS, and others, were called to help

The US Judiciary system has confirmed suffering a cyberattack, and says it is now working on reinforcing its systems to prevent further incursions.

In a press release published on the US Courts website, the body said said it recently experienced, “escalated cyberattacks of a sophisticated and persistent nature.”

Without detailing the attacks, or the perpetrators, the announcement said that the crooks were targeting its case management system, targeting sensitive files hosted there.

Courts in the crosshairs

“The vast majority of documents filed with the Judiciary’s electronic case management system are not confidential and indeed are readily available to the public, which is fundamental to an open and transparent judicial system.

However, some filings contain confidential or proprietary information that are sealed from public view,” the announcement reads.

“These sensitive documents can be targets of interest to a range of threat actors. To better protect them, courts have been implementing more rigorous procedures to restrict access to sensitive documents under carefully controlled and monitored circumstances.”

The announcement does not go into detail about the reinforcement efforts. It says that the Administrative Office of the United States Courts is working with Congress, the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other agencies.

US courts, both local and federal, have often been the targets of different cybercriminals.

Back in 2020, a cyberattack against the US federal court system ended up being far more damaging than initially thought, and in 2024, unnamed hackers attacked court systems across the US state of Washington, forcing the judicial organization to shut down parts of its infrastructure to prevent further damage.

In summer 2024, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, the largest in the United States, suffered a ransomware attack which forced it to close down its entire operation for a day.

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